THERE is good news for football fans in Princetown this week, as £5,000 worth of funding has been secured to develop the village's own team.

In early July, the Fox Tor Café in Princetown hosted a community consultation evening, compered by the south west regional manager for national charity Sported, Julian Wills.

The event introduced the concept of developing a football team for the town. With more than twenty enthusiastic and committed members of the community and with the backing of numerous other village residents, the Princetown Football Club was formed. Since this first meeting the newly formed club has secured £5,000 from the England Footballers Foundation, has held its first official constituted club meeting and has designed the club logo, a footballer kicking a ball and chain.

Princetown FC will start playing in the Plymouth and District league in September 2011 and the newly formed committee, made up of volunteers from the town, will work together with Sported volunteer mentor Mike Carpenter and Tavistock football development officer Neil Jordain to ensure all the club's policies and procedures are in place.

Warren Homden, Princetown FC chairperson, said: 'The excitement around the town at the moment is great, everyone's talking about it. People that I have never met are phoning me asking to play.

'Hannah Colston and Neil Jordain of the WDBC and Julian Wills and Mike Carpenter from Sported are helping us with the project. They have worked so hard for our little village, you would think they are Princetown born and bred.'

Currently there is no playing facility in Princetown for the club to play fixtures on, and the first season in the league will see them playing all their home matches at a venue outside of the village. However, plans are underway to secure the required funding to develop a suitably drained pitch for the club.

The volunteers at the club are also keen to help develop junior football opportunities in Princetown and will be looking to provide training for youngsters in the near future.

Julian Wills of Sported said: 'This is a fantastic project, which will bring footballing opportunities to a rurally isolated community that currently have none.

'The first stage of the project is complete, but there is a long way to go to get a playing facility in Princetown.

'The enthusiasm shown by the community to make this project happen is amazing, and they should be really proud of what they have achieved so far.

'I believe we will see Princetown FC playing their home matches in Princetown in the future.'

Sported is a national charity established in 2008 by Sir Keith Mills.

Sported's mission is to provide business resources and financial support to community sport organisations, enabling them to reach and improve the lives of young people.

Sported plays the role of business angels, dedicated to sport for development projects across the UK. The charity offers capacity building support and funding to voluntary and community sector projects which run activities for young people aged 11-25.